Mount Rushmore is a symbol of our
country's great history. The sculptured faces of Presidents George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt grace the hillside
in a splendid display of American pageantry and craftmanship. I bet that
many of you kids have visited Mount Rushmore before. Was it what you were
expecting or not? There is a lot of history behind Mout Rushmore and why
it became a National Memorial. What do you think?

Task

You are in a group of students that
job is to tell others why these specific 4 presidents were chosen to be
carved on Mount Rushmore. Your job is to present evidence and documents
detailing why George Washington's, Thomas Jefferson's, Abraham Lincoln,'s
and Theodore Roosevelt's faces are carved on a hilside for all to honor.

1. Research the information on the
4 president's by clicking on the site above titled: Information on Presidents
or by also clicking on the site: A Great Night Picture of Mount Rushmore,where
you will find information specifically about the 4 presidents on Mount
Rushmore on the bottom of the page. From this, formulate a hypothesis on
why these 4 president's are the one's that were chosen to be carved on
Mount Rushmore.

2. Your next step is to present
these findings in an essay of about 1 page or so for each president on
why you think they were the specific ones chosen to be carved on Mount
Rushmore.

3. After you have done this, compare
and contrast your answers with members of your group. Groups will consist
of about 5 members each.

4. After discussion in groups, come
to a conclusion on which one of the president's makes the strongest case
in being on Mount Rushmore and which one doesn't.

5. Finally, as a class we will discuss
the implications of your answers that you came to in groups. One group
member will present the group's consensus on what they discussed.

Evaluation

You will be graded individually
on the content of your findings and the persuasiveness of your arguments
for or against each president. Some consideration will also be given if
you present your arguments in an appropriate manner with proper punctuation
and spelling. You are expected to participate in your respective group
by talking about your views whenever the time calls for it.

Conclusion

This project has enabled you to
learn more about Mount Rushmore and what it stands for and why it is a
national memorial to this day. I hope you learned that the 4 respective
president's chosen to be honored on Mount Rushmore are their for specific
reasons. I encourage you to continue to explore more information about
Mount Rushmore. The best way to do that is to visit Mount Rushmore first-hand
when you get the chance. This way you can visually see what you have been
learning about and appreciate it even more.